MANILA – The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has intensified its campaign against big-time tax evaders, filing criminal complaints worth over P7.18 billion against contractors Sarah and Curlee Discaya, a couple at the center of the flood control corruption controversy, along with one of their corporate officers.
BIR Commissioner Romeo Lumagui Jr. said the complaints cover unpaid personal income taxes, excise taxes on luxury vehicles, and documentary stamp taxes arising from the couple’s supposed divestment from several construction firms.
“Although we have already discovered P7.1 billion in tax deficiencies, the cases filed today are merely the tip of the iceberg. These cases focused more on individual tax liabilities of spouses Discaya,” Lumagui said.
The BIR’s audit revealed that from 2018 to 2021, the couple failed to pay billions in income taxes. Investigators also discovered that the Discayas “never divested” from four companies — St. Gerrard, St. Timothy, St. Matthew, and Alpha & Omega — contrary to their claims of having done so.
According to the bureau, the couple “failed to file a documentary stamp tax return and pay the documentary stamp tax to properly execute such transfers of shares.”
“This means that not only did they fail to file the return and pay the corresponding taxes, they also failed to divest from any of these four companies as its beneficial owners,” the BIR said.
“They never divested because they never paid the corresponding taxes necessary for such divestment,” it added.
The agency further noted that the Discayas and their firm, St. Gerrard Construction Corporation, did not file excise tax returns for nine luxury vehicles registered under their names.
Lumagui vowed that more cases are forthcoming as the BIR continues its audit of the couple’s companies and related entities.
“We will file more tax evasion cases as soon as we have all the information we need,” he said. “The BIR will make sure that the Spouses Discaya and their Corporate Officers will be imprisoned for violating our tax laws.”
The multi-billion-peso case marks one of the largest tax evasion filings under Lumagui’s leadership, reinforcing the BIR’s parallel pursuit of accountability amid the government’s broader anti-corruption drive./PN
